June 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

[Zoey]

Weight change +/- in lbs: - .3
Ooohhhh so slow, but that's OK.

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
6. Eliminate any added oil.
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).


Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

There was only one day last week that I didn't go for a run, and that's the one day I got cravings for processed foods. I didn't give in, but it sure is easier when the cravings don't even come up. Anyway, still feeling good while shuffling slowly towards optimum health. Happy June, everyone! Have a lovely celebration with your family, Mark!

[Gimmelean]

Weight change +/- in lbs: +1.2
5/21/2021. 128.8
6/04/2021. 130

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Yes

2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume).yes

3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them. Yes

4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). Yes

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). No- an ongoing challenge.

6. Eliminate any added oil. Yes

7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, popcorn and dried fruit. No- a challenge this week

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). No

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. No- an ongoing challenge

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). 100%!

Victories, comments, concerns, questions.

Here’s to a new month of success to everyone. Mark I wrote this even before I read your words of inspiration for June. I am very grateful for this group, your support, and the education you provide.

Because I’ve kept track here, I realize that I’ve been backsliding and moving forward within the same 5 pound range since April. I joined the group last July and was at my lowest weight in November. Lowest weight ever! I want to get there again. My biggest MWL compliance challenges remain the same too. No mystery. It’s easy to maintain and practice for a while and it feels like smooth sailing until suddenly it’s not. The difference is that I’m not going to let go any more than I already have right now and plan to journal everything this week. If I could plot my weight loss graph I’d love to see a downward slope to the right instead of such a mad scribble all over the page !!!

[Artista]

Hi Mark, Please add me in for June. I was last in the group in Feb. I’ve done pretty well since then, even dropped a few pounds, but during this last week I twice went off the rails with yellow light foods, dried fruit, nuts, peanut butter. I hadn’t done that in a long time and feeling a bit scared. After reviewing some of the materials linked to in the MWL thread, I think I wasn’t eating enough starch, so I’m really going to try to pay attention to that going forward. I'm looking forward to the extra accountability provided in the MWL group, also thinking of starting a journal for that day-to-day summing up. Thank you so much for all your hard work encouraging and moderating the MWL group.

[Drew*]

Weight change +/- in lbs: -1.2 lbs (191.9 lbs.)

MWL checklist

It is great to start doing MWL again as it is a sure way to lose weight and improve health...

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. I started doing this...I would frequently have soup or fruit before a meal. On average 2 out of 3 meals.
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert. 2.5 out of 3 meals per day on average.
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them. Almost daily no added sugar. I've got some challenges with salt and will work on it.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). Done.
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). Mostly eliminated higher plant foods, except a little soy or concentrated plant protein on two days.
6. Eliminate any added oil. This one is a bit of a challenge. Working on it. I know the importance of cooking either dry or with liquid and not adding foods that have added oils. Thing is, I have these bean burgers, bean balls, and bean links. As far as I can tell from the ingredient list, they have no added oils and they are not faux meat. I know it would be better to make my own. Working on that project... At any rate, the bean product is a challenge to cook. I have tried dry cooking them and steaming them. Frying is on the "no" list so my goal this coming week is to find an alternative such as baking them in foil and parchment paper with a little non-fat marinade.
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit. 2 out of 7 days, which is an improvement from 0 out of 7 days. However, with the exception of two days, I maintained my goal of eating the MWL way first.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). Done. This has included alcohol since mid-January. Alcohol is not a healthy choice for me and definitely not something on the MWL list.
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. I mostly followed this although sometimes I am not hungry in the morning. But I seem to have a good appetite anyway for cooked cereal or cooked whole grains and lentil mixed with fruit. I am not adding sugar or oat milk to maintain MWL.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). Mostly done: did an average of 28.6 minutes of vigorous exercise per day.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

I am working on following the MWL way. I had 1 1/2 days that were a bit rough with some food choices that just did not make sense. At the same time, I did not let the choices get me down and kept working on MWL type meals.

Mark, thanks for the warm welcome and encouragement last week.

Yesterday I did 1 hour of kickboxing on a soft bag and doing circuit-like exercises. I am not as sore as I was the week before. Perhaps I have figured out my bodily limits at the age of 58.

Today's plan: MWL, a walk in a park with wife (light to medium intensity), dinner (wife's cooking).

Wishing you all success in this excellent MWL plan!

Drew*

[Noella]

Hi Mark,

+/- 0 pounds —155 I’m very happy with my weight. It’s so great to finally be at a ‘normal’ weight! I don’t feel overweight or obese anymore. I’m not slim yet though and my deep wish is to become ‘slender’ and that will mean I need to lose about ten to fifteen more pounds. I’m in no rush and although my weight loss is slow going now and I’m totally okay with that. I love eating lots of food at each meal so I’m enjoying starch-based meals. We have company for dinner tonight (it’s family) and I am serving mixed wild and brown rice, black bean soup (Moosewood recipe without the added oil) topped with fresh salsa, chopped tomatoes and scallions. Plus a starter of a shredded cabbage and arugula salad. I might make baked apples for dessert.


1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
6. Eliminate any added oil.
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e. bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit. ( I had a few raisins and a couple slices of whole grain bread ( no added oil)
8. Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don’t starve yourself and don’t stuff yourself.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).


I appreciate all of the info and stories shared with this wonderful support group and I’m really happy to be here with you.

Best regards everyone,
Noella

[Mark Cooper]

The window for reporting this week's weigh-in and behavioral results has officially closed.

The remainder of my replies and the weekly summary will follow.

[Mark Cooper]

squealcat - WOW! Big result, Marilyn! Nice work turning things around. Your point about not getting discouraged, and adjusting while continuing to put in the work amidst ongoing struggle is very well taken. I think thoughtfully taking notice of the feelings and sensations that result from a particular pattern of behavior can be a powerful source of information for future decisions. Reach for that energized feeling by reaching for the recommended foods!

carwex - So glad you seem fully recovered from that bout with vertigo, Carol! It can definitely be an effort to get back into the swing of things after a period of illness. Aim for consistent, diligent adherence; it sounds like you are off to a nice start with bookclub & Teatime going well.

Zoey - Slow, but steady! You are already down 1.6 pounds since the start of May! Kudos to you for resisting those cravings and sticking with the program. Practicing these behaviors in a manner that leaves us feeling good seems like a very important piece of the puzzle, right? Happy June!

Gimmelean - Taking stock of how our actuality compares to our aspirations through self-assessment is a primary force directing all our efforts, right? I know exactly what you mean about how everything feels like smooth sailing, right up until it doesn't. Journaling is a great way to dial things in; I found it to be an invaluable part of my own practice. Here's to smoothing out the "mad scribble" into a steadier slope!

Artista - Welcome back, Nancy! Good thought to be mindful of including adequate starch each time you eat. Journaling seems like a great way to support your efforts. Be sure to review the Orientation materials, and I look forward to your report next week.

Drew* - Down 1.2 lbs! Those tough days can be a pretty common experience, as one transitions back to the recommended pattern of behavior. I've found it can really help to have a "cope ahead" strategy for those situations, so as to not feel blindsided by cravings, obstacles, or just the overall challenging communal food environment. I have had pretty good results baking or broiling adherent burgers, so that might be worth a try. Jeff's burger recipe is my personal favorite. Kickboxing sounds like a really fun workout! Keep working at those key challenges, and enjoy the walk with your wife.

Noella - Yet another in your string of very solid weeks! I know you will carry on adhering to the recommended pattern of behavior, so I'm confident you will ultimately achieve very satisfying results.

[Mark Cooper]

Please note - I replied to each participant individually in the two lengthy posts linked below, provided that their reports followed the guidelines for weigh-ins.

Mark's Replies for June 4 - Part 1
Mark's Replies for June 4 - Part 2

By my count, 16 participants reported for our first June 2021 MWL weigh-in! If I neglected to include anyone, or you notice an error in the tally, please let me know (via PM so we can keep the thread as tidy as possible, or in a post here if you cannot PM).

Here are the results for the first Friday in June:

Week ending 6/4/2021: 16 participants reported a total change of -5.90 pounds
--------------------------------------------------
GreenFroG +3.80
Carwex + 3.00
Gimmelean +1.20
PonysPlants +1.20
Rebecka22 +1.00
--------------------------------------------------
Total gains: +10.20
--------------------------------------------------
NO CHANGE / MAINTAIN/ STARTING OUT
Artista 0.00
HoustonJason 0.00
Noella 0.00
Trish88 0.00
--------------------------------------------------
Zoey -0.30
Cmcavazos -0.60
Frowsyowl -0.80
Drew* -1.20
Bunsofaluminum -4.00
Squealcat -4.40
RacingSnake108 -4.80
--------------------------------------------------
Total losses: -16.10
--------------------------------------------------
Cumulative group loss for June 2021 to date: 5.90 pounds
Average loss for week ending June 4: 0.37 pounds
Cumulative group loss for January 2021: 117.20 pounds
Cumulative group loss for February 2021: 39.40 pounds
Cumulative group loss for March 2021: 73.20 pounds
Cumulative group loss for April 2021: 48.30 pounds
Cumulative group loss for May 2021: 35.90 pounds
--------------------------------------------------

Next Weigh-In is on Friday, June 11, 2021.


Woo-hoo! My congratulations to all our participants. That is the first week of June done already; I really feel like the summer months snuck up on me, but now that June is here I am absolutely loving the change in weather. We had a lovely day for my daughter's outdoor birthday party and Posey and her friends had a GREAT time. Thank you so much for all the good wishes.

You all know what to do to make the most of the week ahead: keep your attention and efforts focused on the recommended behaviors and the outcomes will take care of themselves. If you are feeling challenged, apprehensive, or unsure, I have found that investing some time in planning and preparation can go a long way toward resolving those feelings - PLAN to SUCCEED. As a way of informing and enriching our understanding of the MWL recommendations, I find Jeff's article on Passive Overconsumption: The Unintended Intake of Excess Calories offers some valuable perspective.

Have a great week, take care and be well!

[Drew*]

Drew* - Down 1.2 lbs! Those tough days can be a pretty common experience, as one transitions back to the recommended pattern of behavior. I've found it can really help to have a "cope ahead" strategy for those situations, so as to not feel blindsided by cravings, obstacles, or just the overall challenging communal food environment. I have had pretty good results baking or broiling adherent burgers, so that might be worth a try. Jeff's burger recipe is my personal favorite. Kickboxing sounds like a really fun workout! Keep working at those key challenges, and enjoy the walk with your wife.

Mark,

The kickboxing was great and my wife and I went hiking for about two hours. The MWL burgers recipe looks tasty. They would be nice with some veggies. I have the ingredients already on-hand to make a variation of them soon! I plan on buying only MWL foods for the rest of this week! Working on the "key challenges" going forward!

Drew*

[deweyswakms]

Good morning,
I would like to join June's MWL weigh in group. I went off the ditch into Candy Land, so annoyed at myself. I know why, am working on new strategies to handle the triggers. Meanwhile, I like the MWL guideline discipline, it works, so I will commit to it again for a couple of months.

thanks,

Marsha

[Mark Cooper]

deweyswakms - Welcome back, Marsha! Great to see you posting. Be sure to check out the Orientation information for a thorough rundown of how the group functions at present.

[Trish88]

Mark, thank you for your lovely welcome to the group. I feel so supported here, and you are doing an amazing job of encouraging all of us and keeping track of the group's weight loss. Thank you so much for the positive reinforcement!

Starting Weight: 279.8
Current Weight: 276.1

Weight change for this week +/- in lbs: -3.7
Weight change since beginning June 2, 2021 +/- in lbs: -3.7

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. 0% I haven't started this yet, but I do eat at least one large bowl of salad daily, and have fruit with breakfast and fruit with or after dinner.
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert. 100%
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them. 100%
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). 100%
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). 98% I had a cup of baked tofu "croutons" a few nights ago with dinner, but otherwise have been 100%.
6. Eliminate any added oil. 100%
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit. 100%
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). 98% Just a splash of oil-free/sugar-free oat milk on my morning oatmeal, and a 2nd splash in my cup of instant coffee substitute (cereal grain beverage).
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. 100%
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). 5% Yesterday I took my dog out for a 15 minute walk, until my back started to bother me. (My husband and adult daughter take Rocco for longer walks, he gets out at least 3 times per day.) This will take time, as my lower back pain prevents me from doing the walking that I would normally do. But as I lose more weight, I am looking forward to getting in a 30 to 40 minute walk daily.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: I have been working on eliminating sugars and flour from my diet since March. There have been a few slip ups, but I am now finding the key to not craving breads, crackers, cookies, etc., is to eat a 50/50 meal plan. The unprocessed starches are amazing. Without them I know I'd still be into the sugar and flour.

Cheers,
Trish

[Mark Cooper]

Hi, everyone! It appears yesterday's weigh-in reports may have vanished in the transition to a new McDougall website. I do have weight changes for the week saved in my spreadsheet for bunsofaluminum, PonysPlants, Wfpb2020, Rebecka22, frowsyowl, HoustonJason, & GreenFroG. I am missing the results for texaslil & cmcavazos. Please feel free to repost any of the missing reports, if you would like to. Unfortunately, I've lost my replies from yesterday, too. My apologies for any confusion and the inconvenience. Thanks.

[Gimmelean]

Weight change +/- in lbs: 0
6/04/2021. 130
6/11/2021. 130

1.Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Yes

2.Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert. Yes

3.Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.Yes

4.Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).Yes

5.Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).Yes

6.Eliminate any added oil.Yes

7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit. Triscuits

8.Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). Yes

9.Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. Yes


10.Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). Yes

Victories, comments, concerns, questions. I found myself saying no to candy, cake, sweets, and really meaning NO without pretense or regrets. I know I can never eat just a little bit of any of those. I wish practice made permanent:-). Stayed the same this week and grateful for that. Have a good week everyone.

[Zoey]

Wow, it looks like the boards got a revamp or something. It took me a long time to get in. And I'm wondering if no one posted on Friday, or if I'm just not seeing the posts.
But I'm still here with my report, hoping it goes through.


Weight change +/- in lbs: - .2


1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
6. Eliminate any added oil.
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).


Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

I've had a good week of compliance and physical activity. But now I have a new problem. I am feeling SO good, and yet the mirror still shows an overweight flabby old woman. It's quite cruel. I feel like if I never saw my reflection, I would be this bundle of energy and confidence. Then reality just shatters me.
I know everything will catch up and even itself out eventually. But it's really messing with my head right now.
I'm in no danger of quitting... just needed to whine a little.

Looking forward to reading everyone's reports, and hoping the board glitches are only on my end.